Found in Transition: Chime Edwards On How To Do a Proper Length Check

“I don’t want my hair to grow,” said no one ever. When most of us big chop, our hair grows faster than ever, but it’s often difficult to notice the changes. Sometimes it feels as if it’s the same length for months. An excellent way to track progress is to take pictures every couple of months and do length checks. But, what’s the best way to do it?

If you were to Google length checks, you would see a number of ways to do them. The purpose of a length check is to see how long your hair currently is and/or to measure how much your hair has grown. Since natural hair “draws up” the true length is often masked by shrinkage. There are many naturals who are only able to see 30% of what their hair’s true length is because they have a great deal of shrinkage. Believe me, the shrinkage struggle is real. I personally don’t like to use heat to do length checks because I try to limit the amount of heat I use. If you choose to use heat, you can blow your hair out with a blow dryer that has a comb attachment or straighten it. This will allow you to get the most accurate measurement.

I length check my hair simply by pulling it in a downward motion. I prefer to do this when my tresses are wet. Water makes my hair heavy and weighs it down. I also use a ton of conditioner to stretch my hair then I detangle it. It is best to measure small sections at a time in different areas of your hair. Your mane can be a completely different length on the sides than it is in the crown, back or front.

If you would like to know exactly how many inches, use measuring tape. I advise against using construction-measuring tape—it can be pretty cumbersome. Remember, don’t obsess about your length. Document your journey and enjoy watching your progression to Rapunzel status.

Chime Edwards is an extremely popular YouTube vlogger with over 145,000 subscribers. Chime was also featured in Nikki Walton’s (Curly Nikki) book, ‘Better Than Good Hair.’